A town history largely forgot

Updated 11:33 pm, Friday, March 1, 2013

This statue of Stephen F. Austin was made in 1936 as a part of Texas' centennial celebration. It's now one of the markers visitors to the San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site will encounter.

This statue of Stephen F. Austin was made in 1936 as a part of Texas' centennial celebration. It's now one of the markers visitors to the San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site will encounter.

Photo: Photos By Nick De La Torre / Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Houston Chronicle

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Brian McAuley, site manager of the San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site, holds a banner called the San Felipe Flag, which was designed for use by the militia in 1836. The banner represents Great Britain with the Union Jack, the U.S. with the stripes and Mexico with the colors red green and white. The idea of the lone star is also represented on the flag.

Brian McAuley, site manager of the San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site, holds a banner called the San Felipe Flag, which was designed for use by the militia in 1836. The banner represents Great Britain

A portrait of Stephen F. Austin on a granite obelisk is is some of the memorials that commemorates Austin's colony at the San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, in San Felipe.

A portrait of Stephen F. Austin on a granite obelisk is is some of the memorials that commemorates Austin's colony at the San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, in San Felipe.

Photo: Nick De La Torre, Chronicle

A town history largely forgot

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SAN FELIPE — With the impassive stare of a bronze statue, which he is, old Stephen F. Austin has seen countless Texas Independence Days celebrations come and go.

Always, as will be the case this year, attention has focused on nearby Washington on the Brazos, where, on March 2, 1836, disgruntled colonists formally severed ties with Mexico.

While the Alamo and the San Jacinto battleground have been hailed as fields of heroism, San Felipe de Austin, the pioneer Texas land agent's capital and a center of dissent, has languished in the shadows.

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By 1836, the hamlet, 10 miles from present-day Sealy, had about 600 residents, making it second only to San Antonio in population.

At its height, the town was a center for steamboat commerce. It was the site of saw and grist mills and, in the last years before the revolution, the home of a newspaper run by Gail Borden, publisher, land surveyor and future inventor of condensed milk.

In 1832, the first of two conventions crystallizing settlers' complaints — they first called for recognition of Texas as an independent state within Mexico — was held in the village

Despite its significance, San Felipe never gained the cachet of nearby Washington on the Brazos, which became the site of a living history farm and the Star of Texas Museum operated by Brenham's Blinn Junior College.

There were numerous reasons for the obscurity, McAuley said.

San Felipe de Austin never was the site of a major battle. As Santa Anna's troops moved eastward after the battle of the Alamo, Texas militiamen burned the town. Although efforts to rebuild were made after the war, most residents never returned.

Sealing the town's fate was the fact that its most famous resident never came home. Austin died in Brazoria County while serving as the new republic's secretary of state.

Still, the once-important settlement was not totally forgotten.

Starting in the 1920s, nearby residents launched efforts to save the site. For the state's 1936 centennial, they erected Austin's statue. They also reconstructed Austin's log home and preserved an 1840s-vintage country store that now is used as site headquarters.

The site became state property in 1940, and was administered as a state park before being transferred to the historical commission in 2008.

Michael Moore, president of Friends of San Felipe de Austin, a group tracing its history to 1928, said area residents long have hoped the property would be accorded its proper place in Texas history.

“A lot of interest was focused on the site during the centennial,” he said, “but then attention just went elsewhere.”

Today, the historic site constitutes the center of the town of San Felipe, which consists of a scattering of residences and businesses along FM 1458.

McAuley said archaeological projects will be conducted on the site's newly acquired 70 acres before museum construction begins. Artifacts recovered through that work will be displayed with items contributed by area residents. Display highlights will include Austin's desk, currently on view at another museum.

“We're trying to get the word out: This is not a forgotten place,” McAuley said. “Stephen F. Austin casts a large shadow.”